El Mehdi Beach Resort

Beach resort ENGLISH REVIEW - This holiday was for 2 British ladies 50-58 years old travels g as a couple. - LOVE HOLIDAYS - Booking was made with love holidays as a package holiday - flights, transfer & hotel. - EASYJET - Flew with Easy-Jet the flight was good, the staff on the flight were very pleasant and always willing to help. - TUNISIA AIRPORT - As there is no phone signal (UK) in Tunisia, you are better off paying £20 for an E-Sim. At the bottom of the escalator at Tunisia airport there is a red stall, they will provide you with a sim and ensure your phone is up and running - this is well worth the money. - TRANSFER - This was with OTS Travel Solutions: MTS. From the airport to our hotel (Beach resort Mehdi) it took 3 hours. I would recommend paying alittle extra and get a direct taxi instead. This company will do this for you online, just go into your booking online. - HOTEL - The complex is nice and big, good for family’s & adults, lots of people from different ethnic origin, however, there are not many English people at this hotel; we only met 2 other couples at this complex. - SWIMMING POOLs - There are 2 big pools & 2 little pools; both are next to the restaurant/bar. There are slides in one pool for the kids this was a good feature and there was alittle park for kids as well. - HOTEL PARK/GROUNDS - The grounds of the hotel are well maintained. There is a small park for children, a sitting area with cosy chairs and tables to relax. There are plenty of sun beds and umbrellas. However, some of the sun beds are broken and in disrepair, but we expect this when going abroad as a sun-beds are always used on a daily basis. - RECEPTION - Staff are ok and helpful, if you want a safe, go to them and you can either pay in dinar or Euros; we paid 35 euro as a deposit for one week and you get your money back when leaving, so your safe is Free! - MONEY - This hotel does not exchange UK money to Dinar and you cannot use your bank card or English money on this complex. However, you can use Euros as well as Dinar money. You can go to a cash point which is about a 10-15 minute walk up the road. However, we found that dinar money was only used for trips/activities or spa/massage. TIP - don’t exchange to much money to dinar as you will probably not use it. - ROOM 46 - We were in a bungalow which we paid extra money for. This room is very tired, old looking and dirty! We had the usual wooden wardrobes and draws, and there is a small fridge for your own use. However, the fridge was small and dirty. This bungalow has 2 rooms; one with a double bed and a room with two single beds. You have two showers; one shower is in the bathtub and the other shower is in the cubicle. The shower in the bathtub had been fixed to the wall, however this come off the wall and flooded the floor, we went to reception to get this repair fixed, which they did immediately. This room does have some ants and at times there was a smell of sewage in the bathroom. The room has 2 x televisions which does have some English channels. The sheets and blankets on the bed are all old/scruffy and need replacing, so does the curtains! if I’m on honest the room does smell alittle like moth balls. On a good note this room is in a good spot and pretty central for everything on the complex; in the back room you can look out the window to the beach; be warned the DJ box is right outside this window. If you run out of toilet paper tell reception and they will send it to your room! Our room was cleaned maybe once or twice in the whole 7 days we were there. Towels in room are replenished every day. I am somewhat disappointed as this hotel advertises that it has a laundry service but they don’t, so theoretically they are false advertising! Otherwise, this bungalow met our personal needs for our holiday. - FOOD/DRINKS - We were all inclusive ; Food and drinks were ok, and mostly available day and night. We felt that there was little variety of food & drinks and it was very repetitive. However, there were food cooking stations where staff cooked fresh food such as omelettes, burgers, fish, pasta etc. At the main bar you can ask for large bottles of water which they give to you, along with local spirits, soft and hot drinks. Cocktails are served outside. Pancakes, kebab/burgers and ice cream are served at the blue restaurant in the latter afternoon. The bar by main reception is open all day/night. Overall, we enjoyed the food & drinks provided; both restaurants were pretty hygienic, on a daily basis staff were wearing clean uniforms, hats, gloves & tables were always being changed immediately after use. All of the restaurant staff were all very pleasant & helpful, and interacted well with everyone. - ENTERTAINMENT - Animation team were good; plenty of activities to do day/night with both children & adults. However, the activities were not done in English so you didn’t know what is going on. There is a board in reception that tells you what the activities are and the time/date. - EXCURSIONS - We did not do any excursions off site. However, I did have a treatment at the hotel which was an anti-stress massage; this cost 110 dinar. This massage was very good and well worth the money. - BEACH - There is direct access to the beach all day and all night from the hotel. There are plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas on the beach, again like I said earlier some are in disrepair and a little broken. The beach is beautiful, nice clear seawater and there is a DJ who plays music during the day. - SECURITY - There are Security men & life guards who are always present on the beach. These gentleman are very good and pleasant, they looked after our bag when we went in the sea. Thank you all x - STAFF COMPLIMENTS - There were 2 staff that stood out to us - the lady who cooks the omelettes in the morning at breakfast time and the young lady who makes the pancakes in the afternoon by the blue restaurant; I believe her name is Aya? - both staff are impeccable, very welcoming and pleasant, and went the extra mile! Both of these ladies are an asset to your team; thank you both x OVERALL - This is a nice little complex, I do rate this hotel as 4 star hotel in Tunisia, however, would rate our bungalow as a 3 star; this bungalow was not worth the money I paid extra for! I am sorry to say if you do come to this hotel then you will get what you paid for! NEVERTHELESS WOULD WE STAY HERE AGAIN? Yes we would stay here again!

The hotel's location is near Mahdia centre, and the rooms are very uncomfortable; the hotel needs a lot of maintenance

We stayed here for a week in a newly renovated bungalow, and in our opinion, it was definitely better than a hotel room. As for the food, the staff were very nice and friendly, although we would have appreciated a slightly wider selection of dishes. The best part for us, however, were the animators. They are really friendly, kind and know how to entertain people and create a great atmosphere. We had a lot of fun thanks to them throughout our stay. For us, they were definitely one of the biggest positives of the whole holiday! ❤️

Our arrival at the hotel seemed to be fine. The receptionists behaved nicely and registration went without problems. Taking over the room was already worse. We were looking forward to a room with a balcony with a garden view, listed as a standard room. To our unpleasant surprise, the bellboy headed outside the building to the ground-floor bungalows. The room seemed to be tidy and clean, but a bit musty. We went for dinner and then to the bar, and left unpacking for later. After returning, we started. After uncovering the thick blanket on the double bed, an almost unbearable smell began to spread in the room. It was later in the evening and we decided to get a change. I regret that we didn't do it earlier. The stench, as if something had died in the bed, kept us awake. We spent the night on the chairs that were in front of the bungalow. The next day, tired, we headed to the reception with the delegate of our travel agency. He arranged a room change for a better one and left. After the delegate's departure, the receptionists simply let us know that our request was absolutely groundless from their point of view and ran us back and forth around the resort to rooms that either had no balcony or did not have enough beds. Due to our tired son, we finally chose a compromise and lowered our demands. The arrogance and pressure shown to us by the head of reception really made me angry. Hospitality was gone and one day of vacation was behind us. Fortunately, the next night was already without smell, if I don't count the smell of mold from the air conditioning. And we were not the only ones who received a "beautiful" welcome gift. The rest of the stay we were looking forward to returning home and to our beds. The bed linen and towels also did not exactly inspire confidence. Everything looked as if it had been pulled out of a musty warehouse after several years. If you washed it in a river, it would perhaps smell better. The food was quite tasty and there was plenty to choose from. As for the staff outside the reception, everyone mostly behaved decently and nicely. The animators were fine guys and it was fun with them. In the end, we somehow made it to the last day and after a cold reception of the key by the receptionist, we were already impatiently looking forward to the transfer to the airport. And it is decided. Never again to this hotel! I have not experienced a worse vacation and I do not think that we are somehow oversensitive. Simply a disappointment and a flop. If you can, avoid this hotel by a wide margin. When I leave out the swear words, I have nothing to add towards the reception staff and the stay in this hotel.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Our stay at El Mehdi Hotel was one of the best summer vacations we have ever had. We traveled with our 2-year-old son, and the hotel was perfect for families with children. He was able to run around freely, enjoy the pools, and have fun throughout our stay. The staff were incredibly kind to him and always tried to make him smile and feel welcome. Their kindness meant a lot to us as parents. The food was excellent, the drinks were great, and the rooms, pools, beach, and all hotel facilities were clean and well maintained. It was clear that everyone worked hard to make guests feel comfortable and happy. A special thank you to the animation team. Sonja, Scooby, Rio, and all the other animators were amazing—funny, friendly, energetic, and always in a good mood. The entertainment throughout the day was fantastic and added so much to our holiday. The waiters were also wonderful. They were always available, attentive, and especially caring toward our son. Their warmth and genuine kindness made our stay even more enjoyable. The only negative point was an older bald man in the restaurant, possibly a manager. While he seemed polite to guests, we felt uncomfortable seeing him criticize a waiter who was always kind to our son. The waiter never neglected his work, but after that interaction he appeared much more reserved. We appreciated his kindness and felt sorry that he seemed unable to be as natural and friendly as before. Apart from this, everything was excellent. We would happily return and highly recommend El Mehdi Hotel to families looking for a relaxing and enjoyable holiday.